5 Questions with Lindy Thurrell

Lindy Thurrell has been involved with the Girl Scouts for 45 years. She's served as a leader for the past 33 years. It makes her happy. This season, Thurrell's troop will make lots of people smile in Surf City. They're wrapping presents. We caught up with the most enthusiastic mother of two to talk about it:

Q:Why did you get involved with the Girl Scouts?

A: When I was a kid, my mom was my troop leader, and I saw how much she loved hanging out with us, and doing fun activities. I always knew I would be a leader, and started my first troop in college. I had several additional troops in the years before I had my own daughters. When they were young I ran two troops at once, and it was quite a challenge. My troop now is high school girls from 14 to 18. It's called Lehua, a word that means friends.

Q:So, your girls are gift wrapping for the holidays?

A: We are. Lehua is gift wrapping at Bella Terra in front of REI and Hue, and the new Dick's Sporting Goods on Edinger through late afternoon Christmas Eve. We will wrap anything, from any store. The wrapping is free, although we do appreciate tips! The girls are doing this to raise money for their next international trip, in June 2014 to London. We've been doing gift wrapping for about eight years, so this is a nice holiday tradition for the troop. There are 29 girls in the troop, and I expect that most of them will work at least one shift.

Q:Will they go one step more and take gifts to cars?

A: My girls always offer to take large boxes and orders to cars, and they don't even have to be prompted to do it!

Q:What are some of the most interesting things the girls have wrapped?

A: One year they wrapped a car in the parking lot as a surprise for someone. And then, the car got driven around the parking lot, still wrapped. And, once we wrapped a trampoline and had to load it into a convertible without ripping the paper. That was a challenge, and the girls pulled it off.

Q:Tips you get will help fund your June trip, right?

A: Yes. The girl for the girls is to be able to use earnings from nut and cookie sales, and gift wrapping over a period of two years to completely cover the cost of international travel. So, bring your gifts big and small to us. We'll wrap them, and you will leave with a smile.